Praise & worship artist almost dies if not for several "miraculous moments".

Christian recording artist and music industry leader, John J. Thompson, looks death in the face. Read below his own praise report about “several miracles” that happened to him that saved his life:

Basically, I nearly died a month ago.

Yeah, really. I’m not meaning in the poetic sense like “I could have died,” or anything. On March 23rd I drove myself to the local clinic, feeling faint and suspecting I might have some internal bleeding. I had a history of some esophageal problems in my teens, and I suspected maybe an ulcer or something. It turns out I was right, but it was much worse than I thought. I had a full ulcer in my lower esophagus that ate through a sizeable vein. With every heartbeat a spurt of blood went into my stomach. All told I guess I had lost over eight units of blood.

The doctors sent me to the hospital via ambulance, and a group of doctors there spent several hours trying to get the bleeding to stop.

Michelle, as it turned out, was in St. Louis helping her mother with some things and had to rush home. From the time they began a scope procedure and they saw how bad things were, I was classified as “Critical.”

After a few hours, and a couple failed attempts, the doctors were able to stop the bleeding with some metal clamps. I was kept in a “medically induced coma” for the next two days, on life support. On Saturday they brought me out of the anesthesia and removed the breathing tube. I stayed in ICU for most of that day, and then was moved to a regular room.

I was released three days later and went home to recuperate. After ten days on a liquid diet, with some of the best home care a guy could ever get, I started to regain my strength.

Here’s the thing… as scary as this whole thing was for us, we were so surrounded by actual miracles, and the deep and true love of friends and family that the valley became a place of blessing for us. For the sake of praise and worship, I’ll share just a few of the miraculous moments.

First, because Michelle was in St. Louis my mother was staying with us to help with the kids. When they took me to the hospital for the tests it was my mom there in the hallway, and not Michelle. When the doctors got the scope down and saw that something looked odd in my “esophageal / gastric junction” they rushed into the hallway to see what they could find out about my medical history. If Michelle had been there she would have known about my surgery in a vague sense, but nothing specific. However, it was my mother out there, and she knew every detail. The doctor later told me that the time they saved because my mom was there may have saved my life.

Second, when the doctors were feverishly trying to stop the bleeding, they tried twice to burn the vein shut. Both times the procedure failed. One surgeon then felt they needed to crack my ribs open and perform a full gastric surgery. The other doctors, however, were fairly certain I would not survive that surgery due to my severe blood loss. They agreed to try one more thing before cracking me open. It worked. Praise God!

Third, by the time Michelle made it to the hospital the procedure was done and the bleeding had been stopped. I was still in critical condition, but then they added the words “but stable” to the description. But when she got there I was in intensive care and wrought with breathing tubes and IVs. They had planned to remove the breathing tube the next day, and Michelle was fearfully looking forward to that. When the time came, though, they decided I wasn’t ready. It was very difficult for her and the kids, but when they came in to see me – and I’m not making this up – I was somehow able to sign her name, the word “love” and the kids names (as well as a couple work things I was thinking about,) while still under the anesthesia! I don’t remember it, but it was the talk of the hospital. I think it was a miracle… and so did one of the doctors.

Believe it or not, there’s a lot more I can share with you. The bottom line is that we just went through the scariest month of our lives together, and on the other side we are stronger, closer and even more in awe of God and family.

Praise the Lord!!!